The invention relates to a metallic body to be bonded to the outside of a housing, i.e. shell or encasing, especially a vibrating machine. In addition, the invention especially relates to the housing of a sensor intended for transforming a physical quantity, in particular vibration, into a corresponding electrical signal, or relates to an adaptor for attaching such a sensor to the housing of a machine, the body exhibiting a substantially flat adhesion surface, and the invention relates to an adhesive connection between the adhesive surface of such a body and a corresponding opposite adhesive surface situated on the outside of a machine housing.
Sensors for transforming a physical quantity into a corresponding electrical signal, for example, acceleration sensors for transforming signals of vibration into a corresponding electrical signal, frequently have to be fastened to the housing of a machine in a durable and reliable manner, as well as in a suitable manner that allows an undistorted and essentially undamped transmission of the physical quantity to be transformed. This should be done either by direct action or, in the case the sensor is intended for easy dismounting, by means of an adaptor which has to be fastened to the housing of a machine in a corresponding manner.
A known method of attaching will provide a sensor or adaptor to be screwed onto the housing of a machine, such housing being provided with a threaded hole of comparatively extensive diameter, and a solid threaded stub that extends from the housing of the sensor or of an adaptor, will be screed into said threaded hole. This known method of fastening requires considerable amounts of work and is time-consuming, especially in the case the threaded hole will have to be provided to the machine after the machine has been placed to its intended working position, which is the most frequent case.
In addition, the aforementioned known method of attaching a sensor or and adaptor to a housing of a machine will not be applicable in case the housing must not be drilled into.
In order to avoid the aforementioned difficulties it has been suggested already, to bond the sensor or the adaptor to the housing of a machine by gluing.
Especially with vibrating machinery the problem had not yet been solved, to attain an adhesive connection between a sensor or an adaptor and the housing of a machine which will be long-lasting and which will have strength of such quality to assure a reliable bonding.
The underlying problem, and therefore an object of the invention, is to design both the body to be bonded and the adhesive connection in such manner, that a permanent attachment of the sensor will be effected solely by gluing, i.e. without the necessity of drilling a screw hole (tap hole) of large dimension into the housing of a machine.
The aforementioned problem will be solved for one part by providing a design of the metallic body to be bonded in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and for another part by the specific creation or design of the adhesive connection between such body and the housing of a machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
The characteristics of an embodiment of the present invention will assure, an adhesive (or glue) which is supplied in a sufficient amount between metallic body and the housing of a machine will not only be distributed reliably about the adhesion surface while the metallic body and the housing of the machine will be made to rotatably approach each other. Moreover, the adhesive will also be drawn into the region of an undercut direct adjacent to the adhesion surface, in a claw-giving fashion, onto the dorsal (back) side of the wedge shaped form (of the undercut). This will produce an especially strong connection between a housing of a machine and the metallic body once the adhesive has cured. A prerequisite for this kind of connection is, that the amount of adhesive that is supplied to a body designed according to an embodiment of the invention and a housing of a machine, will be more than an amount that would be sufficient only to cover the adhesion surfaces. Also, the metallic body will have to approach the housing of a machine in a rotating way about an axis of rotation that is perpendicular to the adhesion surface, preferably about ca. the central longitudinal axis of the metallic body.
The invention may not only be used with advantage when bonding sensors or adaptors for sensors to a housing of a machine, but also is of advantage for attachment of any metallic body to machines by bonding or gluing, in particular for attaching to those machines that may vibrate and which require a permanent connection of high strength of stability.